Masters Workshop - Story Cards

 

Working on my own game world, yet again. It has a lot of background details, yet again. But I don't want to force my players to have to read through all of it when a good chunk my never have any affect on what they do. Most of it is just there to explain how the world got to where it is. But I also have players who love details like that. So that got me thinking. 

I'm going to make story cards and rate what level of world lore you need to know what's on a specific card. 

Then those who want the details can read them as they want as long as they are within their characters lore rating. Those who don't but suddenly find themselves asking a question or something does have to do with what's going on then you could just hand them the need-to-know cards for a quick read. Again, as long as they within their lore rating. 

Example: In my scifi setting there was what's called the 'Big Crash' in computer data that happened around forty years earlier. Since all the currency at the time had gone digital this caused a lot of devastation and huge problems. As a result the government went back to solely physical currency known as 'chips'. Now most players just know that physical currency is a thing and digital is not and don't care about the back story. 

Now let's say they find a box full of old Cred Sticks while searching through some old building. I tell them they are pre Big Crash. If they ask what it is I check the card for the Big Crash and it's a Lore Rating 1 so I hand it over so they can read it if they want. Some may not even care and that's fine. 

This helps me introduce history and lore as it is necessary or wanted. No handing over a thirty page world bible and telling them to absorb all that in. But it's also there for those who want that explosion of data to read through. 

Sort of a physical wiki. Now I guess I'll be picking up some more index cards and a new card holder while at the thrift shops. 

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Zener card resolution part 2

 

More on using Zener cards as a means of resolution for a Silent Hill style game. 

Each character has a list of dark secrets or terrible things they have done. This is used to generate what kind of encounters they will have and the general themes of the game. Also it can affect the outcomes of draws. When they are forced to make a draw in the face of one of these pieces of their checkered past they are considered 'Stressed'. At this point the GM puts a token on one of the symbols in front of the players. If the draw results in more pulls of the symbol that is stressed than the result is considered a cataclysmic failure. More damage, terrible results, etc are all possible outcomes. 

Damage is done in small doses, usually one point at a time. With two points being reserved for cataclysmic failures or big bad guy type encounters. Whenever a Fight draw is made that results in zero successes than the character takes a point of damage. This is recorded by placing a damage token onto one of the symbols in front of the player. The damaged symbol can no longer be chosen by the player for their pulls, however the GM can still place a 'Stressed' token there.

Weapons are a bit trickier. Most allow for the player to pull an extra card on a Fight pull. Some allow a player to chose an extra symbol for the pull. Those of incredible power may even allow both. There are a few creatures that are more susceptible to specific types of attacks. In those cases it allows the player to chose one of the two types of bonuses above and apply it to the pull. 

Those are my thoughts right now. More to come later I imagine. If you like what you see here let me know. Also you can click on the Amazon and Drivethru links on the side, or the 'support this blog' link at the top to help toss a few dollars my way as inspiration to keep working.

 

Gone Fishing part 2

 

Let's take another look at the difficulty number on fishing holes. 

As was pointed out by Kyrinn S. Eis there needs to be some sort of meaning between the different ranges of difficulty. Otherwise who wouldn't just spend all their time at a level 5 hole and never bother with any of the tougher ones. 

Area and opportunity. Some places just may not have a good place to fish. Going across a wretched land may provide very few spots and they may be hard to get anything out of. So all you may come across is level 20 holes that produces very little. Also when going on an adventure you may not get a choice of where to fish along the way. That great place where they are jumping the kobolds may be camped out around.

Another factor to show the difference may be in the quality of fish. That hole with a difficulty of 5 may produce nothing but Perch and Bluegill all day long, maybe a rare bass from time to time. While that hole up around the bend may be hard to fish out of but produces some of the biggest Catfish anybody has ever seen. You could also put some high end fish in the harder places as well or even some that are spell components or magical in nature. 

Finally one more reason to make the difficulty of a fishing hole important is to increase your skill. You can only increase your skill at a hole that has a difficulty than your skill level. So if you get to level 5 in your fishing skill you will have to leave that easy fishing hole and go someplace tougher to get better. This could also lead to some adventuring just to get some time at those hard to fish from holes that may be rare. 

Next installment I'll try to get a few sample Fishing Holes written up. 

You can find the first part of Gone Fishing RIGHT HERE, or you could click on the 'fishing' label attached to this post to find it.

So if you liked this and want to see it expanded upon with more details please share it around and let me know (like in the comments section). If you really liked it you can always buy me a Ko-Fi over on the right side of this blog or look at other options in the 'Support this Blog' tab at the top. 

Fishing minigame

 

One thing we see in so many video games out there is a fishing minigame dropped into a regular (usually fantasy) game. Even if what the game is about has nothing to do with fishing there are so many that offer up a chance to toss a line into the water to catch something. So why not do that with tabletop roleplaying games for something a little different. 

So I present to you the very rough, very unplaytested, Truly Rural Publishing Fishing Minigame Rules. These may change, they get all sorts of changed, none of the fish charts are all encompassing. Hell I may never work on it again, who knows?

The fishing rules revolve around a single D20 roll. You add your fishing skill + any bonuses + die roll and beat the target number of the fishing hole. The amount over the target number you roll determines what kind of fish you catch from the chart for the fishing hole.

A characters fishing skill starts off at level 0 and can go all the way up to 20. To raise your skill level you must spend a total number of days fishing equal to the next skill level. So to go from level 0 to 1 you must spend 24 hours of time fishing while going from level 1 to 2 will take 2 days or 48 hours. Keep track of your fishing time. The fishing hole determines how much time it takes to catch a fish.

Bonuses are from gear or magical items. Common gear bonuses are +1 for decent fishing gear, +2 for top of the line gear. Magical Items and specialized gear will be listed in the next (hopefully) instalment of these rules.

The Fishing Hole stats. A fishing hole has a target number that must be beat. As a rule the less likely one is to catch a fish from a fishing hole the higher it's target number. So a hole with a target number of 5 is easy to catch fish out of. The number then goes up by fives (5, 10, 15, 20) as the more difficult it is to catch a fish. The amount of hours needed to catch a fish is determined by dividing the difficulty by 5. So a difficulty 15 fishing hole may take up to 3 hours to catch a fish. There just aren't many there. Specialized gear (again forthcoming) can reduce that time.

Finally I have up one chart for freshwater fish that can be caught. This is a very basic list and each fishing hole could have their own custom tailored list with as many or as few types of fish in that location. I'll be doing more details on to this in the future.... if people are interested. Here is the basic list, the number on the left is how much you beat the target number by and the fish you caught is on the right. 

1-2      Crappie

2-4      Bluegill

5-6      Perch

7-8      Large Mouth Bass

9-10    Rainbow Trout

11-12  Striped Bass

13-14  Catfish

15-16  Flathead Catfish

17-18  Walleye 

19-20  Salmon 

So if you liked this and want to see it expanded upon with more details please share it around and let me know (like in the comments section). If you really liked it you can always buy me a Ko-Fi over on the right side of this blog or look at other options in the 'Support this Blog' tab at the top. 

Part Two can be found RIGHT HERE. Or you can look at the labels on this post and click on 'fishing' to find it and future installments. 

Happy Fishing.

Narrative design - The Archer

 

Thinking along the lines of narrative game design elements and mixing a few in with a more traditional system for Kainis. One idea I've toyed around with is that each player has a number of 'Story Points' to spend on special abilities. These abilities are determined partially by a rough character class outline and the rest through choices made during character creation. Here are a few I came up with for The Archer.

First off The Archer does not keep track of arrow count unless the GM deems it necessary in a 'limited resources' type of game. So running out is something that needs to have impact in the game.

"My Last Shot" - This means The Archer is using their very last arrow on their character. Done at a time when it really needs to count. It results in gaining an improved chance of success and and improved amount of damage to the target. Cost: 1 point.

"Scrounging for Arrows" - Usable after The Archer runs out of arrows in one way or another. They spend a few rounds looking over the bodies of enemies or through a suitable location that may logically have a few laying around. For every story point spent they get a single arrow. Keep track of these because when they are used you have two choices. Use the arrow normally and you gain the story point back OR use the arrow with an increased chance to hit and you lose the story point you spent for that arrow.

"For your consideration" - This is done to perform a trick shot in a non-combat situation. By spending one point you automatically succeed in making a simple trick shot while not under any sort of duress. 

"Using what is at hand" - Used during close combat where ranged attacks aren't very feasible. The Archer is able to use an arrow as a stabbing weapon using their ranged attack skill although the damage is half of a normal arrow hit. Cost: 1 point.

WthC - Combat Damage Armor

Combat in Welcome to the City is much more a 'theater of the mind' style than any sort of mapped out set up. A simple hand drawn map just so players and the GM know where things are in relationship to each other. There are no movement squares, no rigid rules on facing, it is meant to be simple, fast and loose.

At the beginning of a round of combat each player announces what they intend for their characters to do. Then all actions take place at the same time unless one of two things happen. First a player can chose to 'opt out' and take not offensive action at all, then they may roll to defend themselves against an attack or to move out of the way. Second is they may lose a die out of their Traits die pool for the remainder of combat to take their action before everyone else this one round. Earning a bonus die during combat is done the same way as earning them while performing normal abilities.

Please note that the NPCs perform their actions at the same time as the players.

Combat order will be along the lines of: Describe your action - Roll to perform that action - Roll for any damage done. Keep it quick and fast paced if you can. While combat is an entertaining, and often important, part of the session it shouldn't take up a huge section of the game time.

Damage

Each character has six ranks of damage. The first rank being minor scrapes and bruising with the sixth and final rank being death or near death depending on how you want your games to run.

When rolling for damage the weapon or hand to hand damage chart will tell you what rank of damage was caused. On your sheet you tick that rank and all ranks below it. However ranks are not cumulative you only go up another rank when you take another hit equal to or higher than the highest damage tick. If it's equal to you go up one tick, if it's more than you go up to that new rank and tick those below it.

Example: If you are getting beat down in a fist fight and are at Rank Two and three guys hit you, each doing Rank One damage then you don't record anymore damage. Now when characters do get hit with attacks that don't raise their damage still roleplay it out a bit, get descriptive but it doesn't add up in numbers.

Example: You have taken a Rank Two of damage so far and get hit for another Rank Two then you raise your damage track up to Rank Three.

Example: You have taken Rank Two of damage and a then one of the thugs shoots you for Rank Four damage then you go to Rank Four immediately.

Armor

Body armor has two stats Absorption and Coverage. When a character is hit their player rolls a single D12 and tries to roll under, or equal to, the Coverage rating. If it fails the character takes the full amount of damage. If successful the Absorption amount reduces the amount of damage by that many ranks.

Stacking armor. A character my wear up to two sets of body armor. However when they do so they much choose taking the highest Absorption and the lowest Coverage to form their Armor stats. Or the lowest Absorption and the highest Coverage.

WthC - Common Abilities

In Welcome to the City each character gets various abilities listed under each Trait. Below is a list of common Abilities available. I'm going for broad sounding skills that can cover a lot of area. Also I'm trying to have a few give a bit of flavor to the game instead of just really bland wording. This list is by all means not complete. If a players wants something that is not listed then let them buy it during character creation or when their character gains points to spend later on. Just put some thought into and make sure it's not something game breaking.

Abilities

Physical

Awareness

Brawling
Cutting People
Parkour
Shake It Off
Sneaky
Throw Stuff

Mental

 

Drive

Get Your Head Together
Guns
Tech Savvy
Computer Savvy
City Savvy
Occult Savvy
Patch People Up
Fix Things
Research
Straight up Thievery

Social

Bureaucracy

Streetsmarts
Influencer
Bullshit Master
Leadership
Stalk
Vanish

WthC - Psychics in the City

This is a very, VERY, basic write up on how I want psychic powers to work in Welcome to the City. An untested rough draft with only one psychic ability listed. Basically to see what people think of the mechanics behind it.

Psionic abilities

Characters with Psionic powers have a bit of an advantage over characters who do not. While mechanical balance in the game system it is instead placed into the setting. Those with these abilities aren't seen favorably by most of the City populace. They are treated with distrust because of what they can do that they cannot. Even the government feels this way and marks all known Psions with a DNA tattoo along the right side of their face going from the forehead down. This tattoo also works to identify what powers they have, as there are scanners that 'read' the markings.

A character has a Psychic Trait that works just like regular Traits, by determining the number of dice rolled. Starting characters will have a rating of one or two.

Each Psychic Abilities work the same as regular Abilities except they must be rolled each time the power is used. Although if the roll is done at a time when the character is not under any sort of duress they get a bonus die.

They also have a Psychic Reserve that is determined by taking the players Mental Trait and doubling it. These points are spent when using the characters psychic abilities. It costs one point to use an Ability, they also use may spend points to increase the power level of an ability the amount increased in this fashion is determined in each individual Ability. Also you may spend two points for a bonus die on a single roll.

Failure to make the roll when using a Psychic Ability is simply a failure to accomplish anything. The character concentrates and nothing happens.

If you run out of Psychic Reserve points you may still attempt to use the Abilities. However if you choose to do so and fail your roll then the character looses a point off of their Mental Stability.

The Psychic Reserve is refilled after a good six hours of uninterrupted rest.

Telekinesis

Novice Level. May move an object of up to 10 pounds at the rate of a slow walk. For each Psychic Reserve point that is put in you may increase the amount by 10 pounds or double the speed at which you move it. Example: moving a 30 pound object at twice the rate of speed would cost 4 points of your Psychic Reserve: 1 for basic use, 2 for increasing the weight twice and 1 for doubling the speed.

Skilled Level. May move an object of up to 100 pounds at the rate of a slow walk. Each point put in can increase the amount by 100 pounds or double the speed at which you move it.

Expert Level: Same as the previous levels but the weight is now in 1000 pound increments.

WthC Defined System Basics

Been working a bit more on the system. Basically trying to define the core structure so I can then spread out from that.

First off only 12 sided dice are used.

You have three traits: Mental, Physical and Social. Each of these have a number of Abilities listed under them. The Trait score denotes how many dice you get to roll. While your abilities denote the number you need to roll under in order to succeed.

Traits have a score that ranges from 1 to 4.

Abilities come in three levels: Novice, Trained and Expert. At Novice you need to roll a 4 or less, Trained you need to roll a 6 or less and at expert you need to roll a 8 or less. No matter how many dice your roll you only count the lowest die.

All rolls are normally done with the assumption that the Ability is being performed under stress.  This means most abilities don't need to be rolled to perform basic routine tests. Example: Driving your vehicle to your destination - no roll needed; Driving your vehicle at high speeds down a crowded street while being shot at - then a roll is needed.

To simplify the book work needed when you roll the target numbers determined by the Ability level never change. Instead you may gain an extra die to roll through either good roleplaying, a good interesting description of what you are doing or by stating the use of something to help the character. Whether an extra die is awarded is up to the GM at all times.

Example of good roleplaying: "As I see Ron get shot and go down I  flash back to my training, and yell that I got him as I'm sliding in next to him letting my reflex and instinct take over."

Example of good description: "Dropping down next to Ron and checking his wound, compressing it with one hand and pulling his torn shirt back with the other as I analyze what to do."

Example of something extra: "Going to help take care of Ron's wound using my first aid ability, also I have a first aid kit and I'm pulling it out as well."

The reason for these three distinct different ways to get an extra die is because not everybody plays the same. Some people are natural thespians and can roleplay great at the drop of a hot, others are not. This way everyone has some sort of equal chance for that die.

Now some rolls can be made without an Ability behind them.  Such as using brute force to knock down a door, solving a puzzle or riddle or remaining upright after a hard impact. For these situations the GM determines which Trait is necessary to roll and assigns a difficulty number using the 4, 6, 8 scale.

WthC - Social mechanics

 

I've always planned to include social mechanics into the game. Like rolling to influence others, fast talk, intimidation, things like that. Because to many games have gone the direction of 'roleplay it out' and forget that not every player is an amateur thespian.

So there will likely be three primary stats: Mind, Body and Soul. With various abilities and skills that fall under each one.  Since day one the Social stat has been on my brainstorm sheet. I want it to pretty much work like everything else, the players can tell you what their action is and the GM decide if there is a roll necessary. Because remember everything is rated as if you are doing in under duress so many actions may be seen as automatic successes.  Bribing an underpaid security officers who hates his job into looking the other way? Yeah that's going to happen without a problem. Trying to fast talk your way out of a gang excursion when you have guns pointed at your head? Get ready to roll.

Now of course you can roleplay it out if you want.  There will be some flex room for any GM decisions so they may let you get by something stressful without a roll or give you a bonus die when you do. Again if you can't roleplay very well but come up with a good idea on how to talk your way out of something they may do the same.

This is one of the ways I want to make my system more accessible to as many potential players as possible. Making it where they can act out things if they want but that die roll is there so everybody is on level footing play wise.

WthC - Quick and dirty combat goals

Combat isn't going to be mapped out and a lot more open to the theater of the mind. Maybe some quick layouts so the GM can tell the players where things are but no movement squares, no rigid rules on facing and all that. The goal is to keep it fast and loose.

What each player wants their characters to do will be declared and the action pretty much all takes place simultaneously. Nobody going before the others unless they opt to pause or the character has a special ability granting them first action. Each one doing their thing while the NPCs are also doing theirs. The goal is to make it cinematic and rewarding those who put a bit more thought into their actions than just "I shoot at it with my pistol.".

In Welcome to the City giving a bonus die is one of the crutches used to move the players into doing this. Rewarded to a player when they think of something a bit more exciting or dramatic than the standard declaration of attack. Firing at the enemy while diving backwards over a road block to seek a bit of cover. Stepping a foot forward as you headlock your opponent so they fall forward slamming their head into a steel beam. Bum rushing a startled opponent and clamping a hand over their mouth with one hand while running a blade into their belly with the other.

All of these, give them a bonus die. Even if it logically makes the action more difficult to pull off give them that reward for using their imagination a bit and make it easier for them to successfully perform the action. Of course do remind them that the action needs to be something specific and not to try to do multiple actions into one motion.

Combat order will be along the lines of: Describe your action - Roll to perform that action - Roll for any damage done. Keep it quick and fast paced if you can.  While combat is an entertaining, and often important, part of the session it shouldn't take up a huge section of the game time.

WthC - Damage

In Welcome to the City I didn't want to go with hit points or something like it. I wanted to push it away from there a bit. So I went back and looked at something I had done before with the FreeForm generic system I did many long years ago and I'll probably pull that out and use it.

Basically you have five ranks of damage. With the fifth and final rank being death or near death depending on how you want to play it. There was a death spiral involved as you get a negative to your roll with each rank, however I'm thinking of easing that up a bit and only introduce the spiral on the fourth rank.

Rank One is the lowest level of damage. If you receive another Rank One damage from a hit it will take you to Rank Two. However this is where things get different than most systems. Any hit that does a lower Rank than what you have doesn't add to the total, they are not cumulative.  Example: If you are getting beat down in a fist fight and are at Rank Two and three guys hit you, each doing Rank One damage then you don't record anymore damage. Roleplay it out a bit, get descriptive but it doesn't add up in numbers.

When you take a Rank of damage that is equal to what you already have then it goes up one. If you take a Rank of damage that is greater than what you already have then it goes up that highest Rank. Example: You have taken Rank Two of damage and a then one of the thugs shoots you for Rank Four damage then you go to Rank Four immediately.

The number of Ranks is still up in the air at the moment as well is the death spiral and when it kicks in. I am thinking of using a reverse death spiral in there somehow as well. Maybe spiraling up until a certain Rank and then you start dropping fast.

It's all still in the works and a bit wonky.

WthC - New system idea

Brainstorming on a new skill/action resolution mechanic.

All rolls are done with D12's because I like them.

Stats are rated 1 to 4 and skills fall under them. Skills are rated from 1 to 8. The rating of a Stat determines how many dice you roll when you do a skill check. The goal is to roll under the skill rating on at least one die. Any extra 1's that are rolled increase the level of success.

All rolls are assuming you under duress (like in Unknown Armies). Performing simple skill tests where there is no stress or risk are pretty much a simple success without even rolling.

Now the question is modifiers. I shouldn't need negative modifiers since the skill check is already under duress as stated above. But things may positively influence the chances. Should it be an increase to the skill rating or maybe a bonus die in the roll?

WtcC technology distribution

As per usual the future is here, it's just not evenly distributed.

Technology is one of the biggest gaps between those at the top and those at the bottom. This is very apparent to the characters who are given only the basics of what is necessary to do their jobs. As the cost of equipping them with the latest and best tools is deemed to costly, especially given the low survival ratings for new work crews.

In the area of weapons they are typically given old fashioned slug throwers instead of the more advanced laser and micro projectile armaments. Using caseless ammunition as a cost saving measure, with durable frames and low jam or misfire designs they are high end standards.... of a style of weapon that was passed up decades ago. Anything else beyond that is issued out 'as needed' per assignment or once the worker gets to a specific level of promotion.

Medical care is also very standard. Medical kits that are issued in their vehicles are basically useful for stabilizing an injury with a few injections to help a worker continue on with their job until its completion. A major injury resulting in loss of limb or organ are usually replaced with a cybernetic replacement instead of vat grown full genetic one.

Communications gear usually in the form of headsets or 'sticky' wearables. However they go through a set of older towers and commo lines that are woven through the city like veins. Some areas these connections are sparse, broken or downright non-existent. If they are lucky their vehicle has a base unit that is somewhat better and can get a signal out even when the work crew is ten levels down in an abandoned subsector of the city.

Personal protection gear is somewhat restrictive and doesn't cover all the body. Limiting hard plates to the larger sections of the body like the abdomen, chest and upper legs. They are, however, given decent boots and gloves as injuries to those parts of the bodies seem to affect the completion rate of assignments the most.

Now this doesn't mean that a worker cannot have better equipment. They may buy it themselves if they can afford it or come across it through other means. The City does not cover lost or damaged personal items in these cases.

WthC Skills part two

How rolling skills works.

All resolution will be done by rolling a specified number of D6s and keeping either the lowest or the highest depending on the skill level of the character. Skills come at four different levels: basic, skilled, adept and expert. The die rolls for each level are below.

Basic – Roll two die and keep the lowest.

Skilled – Roll one die.

Adept – Roll two dice and keep the highest.

Expert – Roll three dice and keep the highest.

Difficulty of a given task ranges from 2 (easiest) to 6 (hardest).

Being specialized in a skill allows you to reroll one die if you wish. Except in the case of Skilled then you are allowed to add an extra die to the original roll and keep the highest.

Now as I've mentioned before all skill levels are shown as being performed under stress. So if you are attempting an action in a pretty much stress free situation it becomes easier to succeed. If you are doing the action at the normal speed and pace you may add an extra die to the roll (except at basic in which you subtract a die). But if you state that you are taking extra time and working slowly then you may add two extra die to the roll (except at basic where you now roll as if you are skilled). If you are rolling dice equal to or less than the difficulty of the task then you automatically succeed.

Various other modifiers may come into play from equipment used and abilities.

You may attempt to perform a skill without having it at the GM's discretion. However these are done by rolling three dice and keeping the lowest and no modifiers may be put in place to help.

WthC Psionics quick overview

Psionic abilities.

A small fraction of the populace has begun showing signs of psychic abilities. At first thought to be a hoax or some sort of fluke, but after years of testing it became apparent that is was a very real thing. So a good chunk of money was dumped into research, categorization and potential uses for those with these special talents.

First thing the City decided was that it was to risky for these gifted individuals to walk around without a way to pick them out of a crowd. Put into place for this was a tattoo that is given to anyone with psychic abilities that goes down the right side of their face in what look like small lines with a few jagged edges, also known as “The Branding”. Anyone with facial recognition gear can get a read out of that persons psychic abilities and their strengths.

Then those of low powered abilities were assigned to the CWD rather quickly. Which in turn helped increase the success rate of the work crews a few percentage points. Thus bagging a few higher ups some nice bonuses and promotions while keeping the number of psychics loose on the street to a minimum.

Anyone with much higher powers were moved to a facility deep inside the R&D facilities jointly operated by the City government and corporate powers. What is done with them is unknown to the general populace and most are never heard from again.

What they failed to note was that in a contained testing and research area a persons psychic abilities didn't grow in any meaningful way. They stayed at the same level with no change. However those who are out in society, interacting with a myriad of people every day slowly get more control of their abilities and see an increase in them. Something about being out among the people pushes the growth.

WthC what the characters do

What the characters do.

In Welcome to the City the players take on the roles of people who have signed up on the City Works Division (CWD). This is the section of city works that take on the more dangerous an unwanted tasks throughout the megalopolis that is known as The City. Their applications are chosen because they have special qualifications for this type of work and because they have few, if any, family ties. The later is because the city administrators don't want lawsuits from surviving family members to come about.

Because the CWD has a rather high casualty rate.

They are given a basic pay per month and are given assignments by their higher ups. There is no 'pay for completion' except for the rare bonus that may be attached to more delicate operations. You get a weekly paycheck, health insurance, your work clothing consisting of overalls and whatever gear you are deemed to need for a given assignment. Welcome to the blue collar world.

Assignments may be something as mundane as directing traffic and clearing storm drains. However you could also be sent out to quell a mob that has turned violent or hunting down an unknown creature that has started killing off civilians. You have have to direct traffic while another group is in a gun fight with that mob in the same street.

Base level CWD workers are all given the same colored blue coveralls. Local slang has even gotten around to calling the entry level folks “Basic Blues” as a result. As you progress up the ladder and get promotions your coverall colors will be changed to reflect this.

All workers are assigned to an Assigned Task Crew with a letter and number designation. The overturn in basic blue crews is pretty high. But if enough survive then they may put in a request for a Task Crew name change of their choice.

WthC supernatural and occult one

The supernatural and the occult.

I want to make this some really nasty stuff. Not the kind of the thing the players will all be using. It's mainly employed by the Corporate higher ups, ultra corrupt politicians and a few cults thriving in the underbelly of the city. Some of them may use it a little bit but the cost will be great and in the end they are being manipulated into becoming something less than human.

The corporate powers are almost completely under the control of a group of beings called the Nepenthean Council. They are very close to being what most religions would call demons or devils. Exchanging power and control to their loyal subjects in exchange for making the world a more terrible place filled with suffering. It's pain of the masses that the Nepentheans feed off of, the more the people suffer the more powerful and gluttonous they become.

The politicians and downtown cults are also gaining power from the same place as the corporate powers but not from the main Council. They are serving the lesser creatures of the Nepenthean realm who hope to eventually rise in power among their own. It is a constant battle for survival and more control with constant infighting and backstabbing.

Characters who decide to trade their own humanity to the Nepentheans for personal gain will receive a special attribute called 'Corruption'. The more they give into doing whatever they are told or urged to do the higher their Corruption will go up. Eventually losing touch with humanity and even reality itself and being handed over to become NPCs in the City.

WthC Skills part one

I'm a fan of skills and skill lists in games. So I'm going to be using them in Welcome to the City. Instead of going insanely detailed with hundreds of possible skills for every different type of weapon, martial art, etc I'm going to apply a broad definition. Like 'firearms' by itself instead of having to buy 'shotgun', 'pistol', 'long arms' and all of that separately.

The extra layer of detail that I will be adding is specialization. For example a player may give the characters firearm skill an extra notation giving them a bonus for using that particular weapon. Such as 'Firearms: Pistols'. They still can use all firearms under the base skill level but when they are using a pistol they get a bonus.

Something I'm stealing from Unknown Armies is the 'under duress'. Where your level of ability in a skill is represented as how well you do it in a stressful situation. Naturally if you're picking a lock at home for practice then your chances of succeeding are going to be much higher than if you are doing it while being shot at. Now in most games you aren't going to be rolling dice when your character is just at home or when they have all the time in the world. So it's much less time consuming to add in a bonus in those rare peaceful situations rather than tossing on negatives a lot more often.

City State of Kainis - Threshold

Been working on my own system again, mainly for my fantasy setting I've been jotting down for years.  Nothing really world changing but more along the lines of traditional gaming fare since that's what I like to play and run. I am trying to mix a few things up here and there with it though, one would be with a stat called Threshold.

THRESHOLD - If your character is hit for damage that is less than this stat it isn't recorded on the damage chart.

As a base all characters (humans at least) start with a Threshold of zero before other modifiers are added in either class or species based, maybe even some sort of advantage system. It's these modifiers that may raise it a point or two. In some settings other things like nano/bio/cybertech may add to it as well.

So if you are hit with X damage and X is less than your Threshold you take no damage. If X is greater than your Threshold than you take all the damage. So it doesn't reduce the damage but buffers against small injuries. Basically I'm tired of characters, who are supposed to be the main point of the game, getting whittled down a point at a time by tiny hits.

Armor will reduce the damage. Whatever is left goes to the Threshold and then to the damage chart.

Just me thinking out loud here.